Awareness and level of digital literacy among students receiving health-based education

Being digitally literate allows health-based science students to access reliable, up-to-date information efficiently and expands the capacity for continuous learning. Digital literacy facilitates effective communication and collaboration among other healthcare providers. It helps to navigate the ethical implications of using digital technologies and aids the use of digital tools in managing healthcare processes. Our aim in this study is to determine the digital literacy level and awareness of our students receiving health-based education in our university and to pave the way for supporting the current curriculum with courses on digital literacy when necessary.

Students from Acibadem University who were registered undergraduate education for at least four years of health-based education, School of Medicine, Nutrition and Dietetics, Nursing, Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation, Psychology, Biomedical Engineering, Molecular Biology, and Genetics were included. The questionnaire consisted of 24 queries evaluating digital literacy in 7 fields: software and multimedia, hardware and technical problem solving, network and communication/collaboration, ethics, security, artificial intelligence (A.I.), and interest/knowledge. Two student groups representing all departments were invited for interviews according to the Delphi method.

The survey was completed by 476 students. Female students had less computer knowledge and previous coding education. Spearman correlation test showed that there were weak positive correlations between the years and the "software and multimedia," "ethics," "interest and knowledge" domains, and the average score. The students from Nursing scored lowest in the query after those from the Nutrition and Dietetics department. The highest scores were obtained by Biomedical Engineering students, followed by the School of Medicine. Participants scored the highest in "network" and "A.I." and lowest in "interest-knowledge" domains.

It is necessary to define the level of computer skills who start health-based education and shape the curriculum by determining which domains are weak. Creating an educational environment that fosters females' digital knowledge is recommended. Elective courses across faculties may be offered to enable students to progress and discuss various digital literacy topics. The extent to which students benefit from the digital literacy-supported curriculum may be evaluated. Thus, health-based university students are encouraged to acquire the computer skills required by today's clinical settings.

This study was approved by Acıbadem University and Acıbadem Healthcare Institutions Medical Research Ethics Committee (ATADEK) (11 November 2022, ATADEK registration: 2022-17-138) All methods were carried out in accordance with relevant guidelines and regulations. Informed consent was obtained from the participants.